Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon, claims ATP World No. 1 Ranking

July 4th, 2011

Novak Djokovic captured his first title at the All England Lawn Tennis Club as he plays to perfection in a thrilling 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 defeat of Rafael Nadal. Fellow HEAD player Maria Sharapova also played a tremendous tournament and reached the final seven years after her first Wimbledon title.

Djokovic won his third career Grand Slam tournament after Australian Open victories in 2008 and last January. But the Serb also claimed his 49th victory of the season against one defeat as he ended Nadal's 20-match win streak at Wimbledon.

"This is hard to describe with any words," said the new champion who takes over the No. 1 ATP World Tour ranking from the Spaniard. "It is the best day of my life, the most special. Wimbledon is my favourite event," the Serb said after his historic win, achieved with 27 winners and just a dozen unforced errors. "It's always been my dream to win here.”

The HEAD player was especially pleased about his performance against Nadal, whom he has now defeated in five 2011 finals. "When you're playing against the best in the world, you have to be on your best game. He's won two of the last three Wimbledon tournaments and is always winning big matches in the Grand Slams. This was probably my best-ever match on grass." The modest Djokovic jokingly called his double triumph - tournament and ranking - "a couple of good days at the office."

Maria Sharapova said that despite her loss, she is now eager - after a short rest at home in Los Angeles - to return to the practice court ready to work.
The 25-year old added that she is ready to build upon the momentum from her first Grand Slam final since she won the Australian Open three years ago. "Besides the fact that I lost, I think this is a big step for me, being here in the final. I feel like I'm improving this year. That gives me a tremendous amount of confidence for the rest of the year.”

Andy Murray showed tremendous performances in front of his home crowd and reached the semfinals for the third consecutive time. Victoria Azarenka also made it to the final four for the first time in her career. Also the HEAD young guns are on the rise: Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic claimed a spot in the quarterfinal before falling to eventual winner Novak Djokovic and moved from position 158 to 71 (!) in the ATP World Tour Ranking. Austrian Tamira Paszek also reached her first career quarter final and improved her ranking from 80 to 40!

The up- and coming HEAD Racquet Rebels also showed perfect performances in the Junior competitions at Wimbledon: Australian hopes Luke Saville and Ashleigh Barter claimed the junior singles titles. Saville faught back from a set down against British home favourite Liam Broady winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 while Ashleigh Barter captured the title with a tight two set victory over Irina Khromacheva from Russia.